Sen. John Fetterman dressed for a day on a basketball court Saturday to greet President Biden in Philadelphia — then stumbled over his words as he spoke to the media.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, in baggy shorts, sneakers, and a light blue hoodie, was unable to pronounce words such as “delegation” and “infrastructure” as he made a garbled one-minute statement after Biden toured the collapsed I-95 overpass that has snarled traffic throughout the northeast.
On Saturday, June 17, the 53-year-old senator wore his signature basketball shorts and a hoodie, causing an uproar from critics.
Fetterman’s appearance follows recent concerns about his health after he stumbled through remarks about the bridge collapse during a Senate Environment Committee hearing just days before.
Biden traveled to the state to see the damaged portion of I-95 that collapsed last Sunday and to get an update on ongoing repairs. The collapse has caused major disruption to a vital travel and commuting artery that runs along almost the entire length of the East Coast. The collapse was reportedly caused by a truck that caught fire underneath the northbound portion of the road, with officials adding at the time that the southbound lane, which did not collapse, was structurally compromised by the flames.
“This is a president that is committed to infructure,” said Fetterman, 53, who continues to grapple with the effects of a stroke he suffered last May as he campaigned for his Senate seat.
Biden, he said, “is here to commit to work with the governor and the delegadation to make sure that we get this fixed quick, fast, as well, too.”
The freshman senator also praised Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, calling it “the jewel, kind of a law, of the infra, infration, infriction bill that is gonna make sure that there’s bridges like this all across America getting rebuilt.”
During his time as mayor of Braddock and campaign for the Senate, Fetterman was known for wearing sweats on the job, but he raised eyebrows when he showed up to the United States Senate in a hoodie.
Fetterman has been seen wearing a hoodie and shorts in the Senate several times since his return from a six-week hospital stay, where he was being treated for clinical depression.
Fetterman initially checked himself into the hospital in February and did not return in person to the Senate until April.
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